The Business Innovation Insider

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July 21, 2006

Everything you ever wanted to know about The Change Function

The Change Function.jpg Michael Urlocker's On Disruption blog offers a comprehensive list of links related to Pip Coburn's The Change Function: Why Some Technologies Take Off and Others Crash and Burn, a book that challenges many traditional approaches to technology development. According to Coburn, the ultimate success or failure of a new technology can be distilled down to a simple concept: the total perceived pain of adopting a new technology must be less than the total perceived crisis of not having the new technology.

Among the best resources for learning more about The Change Function: a 48-minute podcast with Pip Coburn available from 800-CEO-READ; a PDF document available for download from Change This called Non-Geeks are Not Morons and two book excerpts now available from Pip's VC firm, Coburn Ventures. In addition, Tom Evslin has posted a comprehensive review of The Change Function that highlights a few key findings from the book.

Tags: PipCoburn Change Function innovation

How to create a strategy for digital convergence

Digital convergence strategy.jpg

The lines between entertainment, computing and communication are starting to blur at an ever faster pace. With that in mind, Harvard Business School professor David Yoffie is developing a new course for the HBS curriculum ("Strategy and Technology") that will teach MBA students how companies can create exciting new products, services and business opportunities by following a strategy of digital convergence. As Yoffie points out, examples of digital convergence are already starting to appear all around us:

"Convergence examples, suddenly, are plentiful. Computing and entertainment have come together in the TiVo video digital recorder, which allows users to time-shift their TV viewing. According to Yoffie, entertainment and communications are coming together to produce a mobile music revolution—the distribution of digital music over wireless networks. And your cell phone has also become a camera, music and video player, personal organizer, instant messaging device, and any number of other products all rolled into one."

Tags: digital convergence HBS innovation

[image: HBS Working Knowledge]

Ed the Business Warrior

Ed the Business Warrior.jpg

I recently stumbled across this series of cartoons from Michael McLean on Flickr: Ed the Business Warrior. If you're tired of Dilbert, and prefer your business cartoons a bit on the edgy side, Ed the Business Warrior is worth checking out. For those readers who are not fans of horror movies like Saw and Hostel, be forewarned - good ol' Ed always seems to be carrying around a pair of sharp Ninja-style swords capable of inflicting a fair amount of damage on his fellow co-workers.

[image: Ed the Business Warrior]

It's impossible to have innovation without failure

Robert Sutton.jpg Stanford's Bob Sutton, co-author of the recently published Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management, weighs in with his opinions about the role of failure when it comes to innovation and creativity. According to Sutton, "it is impossible to run an organization without making a lot of mistakes. Innovation always entails failure. Most new products and companies don’t survive. And if you want creativity without failure, you are living in a fool’s paradise. It is also impossible to learn something new without making mistakes." With that in mind, Sutton offers the following question as "the single best diagnostic to see if an organization is innovating, learning, and capable of turning knowledge into action": What happens when they make a mistake?

In other words, how does an organization respond to failure? Does it forgive and forget? Does it create a climate of fear? Or does it forgive and remember? As Sutton points out, innovative companies like Amazon "forgive and remember" as they find ways to build failure into the innovation process.

Tags: innovation failure Bob Sutton

[image: Bob Sutton]

Inflatable space stations

inflatable space station.jpg Peter Spotts of The Christian Science Monitor takes a closer look at the new generation of "inflatable" space stations that are being designed by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace with technology licensed from NASA:

"The new kid on the cosmic block is Genesis 1, a diminutive prototype for what could be a new generation of inflatable, commercial space stations, orbital hotels, or even living quarters and labs for the moon or Mars. The module, which has the silhouette of a 14-feet-long, 8-feet-wide blunt sausage, lofted on a Russian rocket last week. The Genesis may be small, but it should not be underestimated. Its successful launch and deployment add an important dimension to efforts to open the final frontier to Everyman, analysts say. Genesis 1 "is incredibly significant," says George Whitesides, executive director of the National Space Society, a space-advocacy group in Washington. "This is the only real, funded project that's trying to create a destination in space privately, as opposed to the other folks, who are creating private launch vehicles."

Anyway, the article also has a brief rundown of other space innovation efforts that have occurred over the past 12 months, including the proliferation of "space ports" across the country in places like Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Tags: space innovation space station

[image: Genesis 1 prototype]

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July 20, 2006

Are you an innovation leader?

Innovative CEO.jpg David Gliddon, a doctoral candidate at Penn State University, recently completed a three-year study of what it takes to be an innovation leader. According to Gliddon, "a leader's ability to identify and diffuse innovations is critical to adapting to changing technologies and customer preferences, enhancing employee creativity, developing new products, supporting their organization's market competitiveness and sustaining economic growth." As much as corporations would like to develop a culture of innovation within their organizations, however, Gliddon found that many individuals tapped for leadership roles "lack the ability to plan, measure and implement innovative programs, products and services."

As part of his doctoral dissertation, Gliddon developed a competency model of innovation leaders that can be tailored to any organization as part of a competency-based human resource development initiative. Below, he explains two facets of this competency model:

"Innovation leaders collaboratively interact with their employees and support high levels of teamwork, providing opportunities to share innovations. Once an innovation has been shared, employees should be empowered to then adopt the innovation if it is useful. Employees then can support the innovation leader by initially adopting the innovation, and encourage the diffusion of the innovation throughout organization's social system...

Innovation leaders also must take personal responsibility for and be dedicated to projects that require innovations. Therefore, innovation leaders must establish a trust culture and maintain relationships based on trust. They must display initiative, set challenging project goals, and link those goals to the needs of the customer, department and enterprise, according to his study."

Tags: innovation leader

Tom Peters on "Creeping Clumsiness"

Tom Peters making a point.jpg

In a post called "I'll Take the Tonic," management guru Tom Peters wonders aloud whether some of the biggest companies in the FORTUNE 500 - GM, Ford, GE, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Dell, Intel and "Big Pharma" - have lost their way in the world: "Perhaps the time of dominance of the above listed companies has passed. And, say I, so be it. (Or, "Whatever.") These Masters of the Universe may indeed have been built to last, and contribute they have, but as usual—as always?—it's not panning out." After highlighting extensively how the stock prices of these companies have failed to budge over the past few years, despite an assortment of strategies, tricks and gimmicks, Tom comes to the inevitable conclusion:

"In all cases the chief cause is Creeping Clumsiness that INEVITABLY (Big Word, that) accompanies SuperSize, even in the "virtual, outsource-every-damn-thing" age. Size can surely help you muscle your way into many a market; but INEVITABLY it will choke you to death, or at least deliver growing IRRELEVANCE."

Before banishing these companies to the dustbin of capitalist history, though, I'd suggest taking a quick look at the August issue of Smart Money magazine, which has a cover feature on the "World's Greatest Investors." Some very smart folks who have long track records of making a lot of money are loading up on these companies as part of their investment portfolios. For example, Warren Buffett is buying GE, Bill Miller is buying Dell, Christopher Davis is buying both Microsoft and Wal-Mart and David Dreman is buying Merck.

What do you think? Are companies like Wal-Mart, Microsoft and GE able to innovate their way to future growth?

Tags: Tom Peters innovation Fortune 500

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On reinventing the wheel

Jim McGee casual.jpg Jim McGee, author of the McGee's Musings blog and a director with the Huron Consulting Group in Chicago, recently explained the link between innovation and knowledge management initiatives in a commentary piece for Enterprise Systems Journal. To succeed with these knowledge management initiatives, organizations should focus on getting better at reinventing the wheel instead of opting for the status quo. On his blog, Jim provides the back story that led to the article:

"The rant that provoked this column was in response to the frequent justification of knowledge management efforts on the grounds that “we don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” which I finally got tired of hearing. It’s one of those phrases that sounds like it means something useful until you actually take a look at it.

First, equating “knowledge” with “wheels” gets you on the wrong track by confusing knowledge with something vaguely product-like. I can’t think of many knowledge work processes where you could simply take a piece of finished work from elsewhere in the organization and drop it in place... Second, if you are really doing knowledge work, then your customer, be it someone above you in the organizational food chain or a paying customer, is not interested in and will not pay for yesterday’s answer. You need to divine their unique perspective and explicitly connect your knowledge work deliverable to that unique situation."

Tags: innovation strategy knowledge management

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Janet Jackson: Designing Woman

Janet Jackson Design Me 2.jpg Here's the latest in consumer-generated innovation. As seen on Yahoo! Music, music superstar Janet Jackson is soliciting the help of her fans to design a cover for her new album, "20 Years Old," due out on September 26:

"The Design Me contest requires participants to download images of Janet, create proposed album covers, and to post the creations on the contest page. Contestants will vote for their favorite submissions, and Janet will select her top four favorites, which will be used for the first one million copies of the album. Janet and her beau Jermaine Dupri, President Virgin Records, Urban Music, came up with the idea for the promotion. "We were going on the website and looking at all this creative stuff the kids were doing, and it amazed us," Janet says. "They were taking old pictures and they were just very creative with all the designs. We said, 'Let's have these kids design our album cover.'"

Anyway, the new album "20 Years Old" celebrates the 20th anniversary of the release of her 1986 mega-smash album "Control," which included hit singles like "Nasty," "What Have You Done For Me Lately," and the title track. Thus, it's fair to assume that the winning entry will include some sort of homage to that album. For examples of Janet Jackson artwork that fans have already created, check out the Design Me site and click on "most popular cover designs."

Tags: Janet Jackson design me design

[image: Janet Jackson]

DIY innovation with biodiesel fuels

DIY Biodiesel fuel.jpg High energy prices are leading some inventive Americans to take on do-it-yourself projects for biodiesel fuel production. For just under $5,000, it's now possible to buy an assembly of large plastic tanks, water heaters and other equipment for making one's own biodiesel fuel. Over at the Christian Science Monitor, there's an interesting article about do-it-yourselfers turning diner grease into biodiesel fuel:

"In his two-car garage, Kevin Newman is pouring used French fry oil from local restaurants into a pair of General Electric household water heaters - his version of the giant petroleum cracking towers found at an oil company refinery. He deftly moves hoses around, scrubs the impurities from the oil, performs chemical tests, and, voilà, a week later, he is filling-up his pickup truck with biodiesel. He figures his home refinery saves him and his business, which has six trucks, about $1.75 a gallon. "If you can bake a cake, you can make biodiesel," says Mr. Newman.

With diesel at $3 a gallon, 50 cents more than last year, ingenious Americans like Newman are turning their garages and basements into mini-refineries. Websites publish instructions, community colleges offer classes, and biodiesel adherents give tours touting the improvement in exhaust emissions. Country and Western star Willie Nelson has his own "fresh farm biodiesel." Companies casually sell the equipment to turn used cooking oil into diesel as if owning your own refinery is part of the American dream."

The article never mentions this directly - but it seems like many of these grassroots efforts have a lot in common with the "home brew" kits that are still popular with DIY craft beer makers. In fact, one of the leaders of a biodiesel cooperative in North Carolina refers to himself as a "brewmaster."

Tags: DIY innovation do-it-yourself

[image: Christian Science Monitor]

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July 19, 2006

The Top 10 things they don't teach you in design school

Design School.jpg

A big hat tip to Wayne Hall of the Idea Festival weblog, who points to a list from architect Michael McDonough of the Top 10 things they don't teach you in design school. Many of the ideas on the list are as relevant to mid-level managers as they are to designers, artists and other creatives. Point #10 is particularly instructive: "If you hope to accomplish anything, you will inevitably need all of the people you hated in high school... A suit does not make you a genius. No matter how good your design is, somebody has to construct or manufacture it. Somebody has to insure it. Somebody has to buy it. Respect those people. You need them. Big time." So, without further ado, here's the Top 10 list:

1. Talent is one-third of the success equation.

2. 95% of any creative profession is boring and aggravating work.

3. If everything is equally important, then nothing is very important.

4. Don’t over-think a problem.

5. Start with what you know; then remove the unknowns.

6. Don’t forget your goal.

7. When you throw your weight around, you usually fall off balance.

8. The road to **** is paved with good intentions; or, no good deed goes unpunished.

9. It all comes down to output.

10. The rest of the world counts.

Tags: design design thinking design school

[image: Denmark's Design School]

A ten-step program for building an innovative organization

Paul Sloane.JPG Paul Sloane, a leading thinker on innovation within the U.K. and the founder of Destination Innovation, outlines the ten steps to creating a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization in a commentary piece for Computing Business. According to Paul, adherence to these ten steps has enabled organizations like Google, Apple and Virgin to create a culture of innovation and a process for enabling these breakthrough ideas:

(1) Paint an inspiring vision.

(2) Build an open, receptive, questioning culture.

(3) Empower people at all levels.

(4) Set goals, deadlines and measurements for innovation.

(5) Use creativity techniques to generate a large number of ideas.

(6) Look outside for ideas

(7) Review, combine, filter and select ideas.

(8) Prototype promising proposals.

(9) Manage risk and accept failure.

(10) Kill off the unpromising projects and quickly roll out the successful ones.

Tags: innovation strategy

Working together for innovation

Korea Life Insurance.jpg

Korea Life Insurance has launched a new program ("Working Together") to foster innovation in customer service. According to the Korea Times, Working Together is a "unique decision making procedure" that calls for employees to gather out of the office and engage in one night and two days of discussion until they find a solution to a customer service problem. To be glib, I suppose you might call it a one-night stand and two morning afters.

Anyway, from the description of the program in the Korea Times, it sounds like any idea judged worthy of future implementation must eventually find a "sponsor" from one of the executives attending the brainstorming session. Once an executive signs off on the program, it speeds up the implementation process by creating a sense of buy-in throughout the organization. Working together, staff members from Korea Life Insurance have already come up with over 100 ideas, from an insurance money-payment service to better IT quality, during eight previous Working Together sessions. In addition, staff members from different sectors of the company participate in the sessions, ensuring that they walk away with a "deep understanding" of how other parts of the company function.

Tags: innovation Korea working together

[image: Korea Life Insurance workers]

World Jump Day

This was too good to pass up - July 20 is apparently World Jump Day. Promoters of the event say that 600,000,000 people jumping up and down simultaneously at the same time will tilt the Earth into a new orbit, creating a change in planetary positioning that will "very likely" stop global warming, extend daytime hours, and create a "more homogenous climate."

Anyway, in the immortal words of Van Halen, "Ah, might as well jump. Jump!" In related news, experts have not yet confirmed whether playing "Jump" at the same time as you execute a crazy knee-high David Lee Roth stage jump will have any impact on global warming and Earth's planetary positioning.

[video: YouTube.com]

The five fears of innovators

Phil McKinney, host of the Killer Innovations podcast show, has uploaded an MP3 file from his latest show on July 16. In the first segment of the show, Phil outlines the Five Fears of Innovators and explains why these fears should not impede the innovation process:

(1) Someone has already done it;

(2) Once executed, my ideas never turn out as good as I dreamed it;

(3) I've never done this before .... I don't know enough .... I don't have all of the answers;

(4) My BLANK (family, friends, co-workers, etc) will think I'm crazy;

(5) Someone will steal my idea - so I can't talk about it.

Tags: innovation killer innovations

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July 18, 2006

July 18 innovation linkage

Google Master Plan.jpg

The changing nature of strategy [Irving Wladawsky-Berger]
When "visionary" becomes "tunnel vision" [Innovation.net]
How to live happily with a great designer [Seth Godin]
Share Business Models That Share [Open Business]
The Change Function Model [Pip Coburn]
Top 10 strangest solar gadgets [TechE Blog]
Artificial intelligence is now 50 years old [Wired News]
How to build a Q-Tip gun [Instructables]
Wal-Mart + MySpace = disaster [Advertising Age]
Viagra ice cream [Boing Boing]

[image: Google's Master Plan]

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Thinkertoys, 15 years later

Chuck Frey of the Innovation Weblog points out that Michael Michalko has released an updated second edition of Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques:

"Originally published in 1991, I purchased it soon after, and it quickly became my favorite creativity book - and today remains at or near the top of the list of creative problem-solving books that I recommend to others. Thinkertoys combined practical "how-to" advice with a breezy, whimsical tone and numerous illustrations, and it introduced me to a whole new universe of techniques for generating new ideas...

This new edition of Thinkertoys features a new introduction and several new ideation techniques. I must confess that I was a bit disappointed with the meager amount of new content it contains. But I think the author and publisher's primary motivation was to expose this wonderful creativity book to a whole new generation of thinkers.

If you haven't read Thinkertoys, I strongly urge you to do so. Not only is it a fun and engaging read, it will also serve you well as a reference guide of creative problem-solving methods that you can use to tackle your next big challenge or opportunity!"

Tags: Thinkertoys creativity

Innovation buzzword of the day: Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism is a website dedicated to exploring futurist themes in black cultural production and the ways in which technological innovation is changing the face of black art and culture:

"Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, music writers and cultural critics like Mark Dery, Greg Tate, Mark Sinker and Tricia Rose brought science fiction themes in the works of important and innovative cultural producers to our attention. They claimed that these works simultaneously referenced a past of abduction, displacement and alien-nation, and inspired technical and creative innovations in the work of such artists as Lee "Scratch" Perry, George Clinton and Sun Ra. Science fiction was a recurring motif in the music of these artists, they argued, because it was an apt metaphor for black life and history. Now a new generation of AfroFuturists are exploring these themes in a variety of genres: DJs Spooky and Singe in music and digital culture, Fatimah Tuggar and Keith Piper in the visual arts, Kodwo Eshun in music criticism, McLean Greaves in cyberspace, and Nalo Hopkinson in speculative fiction."

Hey, anything involving George ("We Want the Funk") Clinton is worth checking out. For more on Afrofuturism, check out this post on Steen Christiansen's New Mappings blog. (Steen is a doctoral student at Aalborg University in Denmark.)

Tags: Afrofuturism George Clinton

Photos of everyday information architecture

The Information Aesthetics blog points to an interesting Flickr group that focuses on "how humans find, collect, evaluate & share information in the physical, everyday environment." As the more than 100 photos on Flickr illustrate, there are a variety of different ways to highlight everyday information architecture: "The group collects images that document personal design solutions for organizing & structuring everyday life & its environment, such as bookshelves, movie-collections, mind-maps, workplaces, toolboxes, garages, photoboxes, filing cabinets & so on." There's also my personal favorite: the Manshack

Tags: information everyday information architecture

[image: el shack del hombre]

P&G and the art of the one-page corporate memo

P&G 99.jpg At P&G, the one-page corporate memo has become an art form. As one account executive who worked closely with P&G points out, “P&G seems to have figured out that if you structure information certain ways, people will readily understand it, good ideas will emerge, and bad ideas will be exposed...” At P&G, the memo-writing process became such an ingrained process for employees that many believed if you can learn to write a P&G memo, you can learn how to think. Kelly Bean of the Emory Leadership Blog explains the link between memo-writing and idea articulation: "The memo becomes a knowledge codification tool, a way to present ideas, arguments, and recommendations in a language and style everyone at P&G understands." So, without further ado, here is the five-step framework that P&G developed for writing an effective corporate memo:

(1) The Idea (no more than one sentence);
(2) Background;
(3) How It Works;
(4) Key Benefits;
(5) Next Steps.

For more details on the P&G framework for crafting a one-page memo, check out Andrew Abela's Extreme Presentation blog.

Tags: ideas thinking memo P&G

[image: Winning with the P&G 99]

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July 17, 2006

At John Deere, innovation is priority #1

John Deere tractor.jpg

Innovation has eclipsed cost-cutting and manufacturing efficiency as the new #1 priority of Corporate America's largest companies, writes Carol Hymowitz in today's "In the Lead" column for the Wall Street Journal. Nowhere is this more evident than at John Deere, a company that has actively embraced high-tech R&D, creativity and innovation as a way to stimulate economic growth:

"Step inside the technology center at John Deere here and you'll feel more like you're in Silicon Valley than in the Rust Belt. Engineers project 3-D images of new equipment designs on the walls and walk inside the virtual models to assess aerodynamics, durability and other things they couldn't see on a regular blueprint. Others work to perfect robot-driven vehicles, or R-Gators, which now are being used by the military and may find a peacetime use mowing sports fields."

Not only that, John Deere is now tapping into top talent in new areas such as satellite imaging, artificial intelligence and telematics as well as forming R&D partnerships with local universities and small companies (e.g. iRobot). Moreover, the company recently formed an Agri Services group which develops and markets new services to farmers and consults with food companies. (Hmm, this sound a lot like IBM's services group...)

As Carol points out, these changes at John Deere are sympomatic of a new innovation ethic at work in many companies across America's heartland:

"Innovation is the latest management mantra for a growing list of CEOs, especially at big, established companies who for years have fixated on reducing budgets. With just-in-time inventory, outsourcing and other cost-squeezing measures now widespread, executives know their companies must become more creative to capture customers in the global market."

Tags: innovation John Deere

[image: John Deere tractor]

The new rules of business

Fortune cover Jack Welch.jpg In the current issue of FORTUNE magazine, there's a great article by Betsy Morris on the "new rules of business." The "old rules of business," espoused by management icons like Jack Welch, taught businesses how to maximize shareholder value, hire "A" players, and become relentlessly lean and mean. The "new rules of business" teach that it's OK to find and exploit a niche - even if it means that you're not #1 in your industry - and to focus on the customer, not the shareholder. Moreover, instead of hiring charismatic CEOs who look good on CNBC, companies should be hiring passionate CEOs who are deeply moved by doing the right thing. While the FORTUNE article does not specifically mention "innovation," "design" or "creativity," it's clear that what is at stake for many companies is a radical innovation in management thinking and a re-thinking of the role of the corporation:

"There is another model. In breathtakingly short order, the rock star of business is no longer the guy atop the FORTUNE 500 (today Rex Tillerson at ExxonMobil), but the very guy those FORTUNE 500 types used to love to ridicule: Steve Jobs at Apple. The biggest feat of the decade is not making the elephant dance, as Lou Gerstner famously did at IBM, but inventing the iPod and transforming an industry. Dell spectacularly upended Compaq and Hewlett-Packard, yet few big companies paid close enough attention to see that new technologies and business models were negating the power of economies of scale in myriad ways. Nobody has proved that more than Google. Yet in the corridors of corporate power, the old rules continue to cast an outsized shadow. Many CEOs are following a playbook that has, at best, been distorted by time..."

In "Tearing up the Jack Welch playbook", FORTUNE outlines the seven new rules of doing business:

(1) Agile is best; being big can bite you;
(2) Find a niche, create something new;
(3) The customer is king;
(4) Look out, not in;
(5) Hire passionate people;
(6) Hire a courageous CEO;
(7) Admire my soul (i.e. do the right thing).

ASIDE: Jack Welch writes a column for a weekly business magazine that competes directly with FORTUNE. It'll be interesting to see how he responds - I would assume that Mr. Welch won't be pleased about appearing on the cover of FORTUNE with a big red slash through his face....

Tags: JackWelch innovation strategy

[image: FORTUNE cover]

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Innovation Happens Elsewhere

Innovation Happens Elsewhere.jpg A big hat tip to the Open... blog for pointing out that the book Innovation Happens Elsewhere is now available as an online download:

"Ron Goldman and Richard P. Gabriel have made available an online version of their book Innovation Happens Elsewhere: Open Source as Business Strategy. It's a well-written and highly-approachable introduction to open source, mainly for those thinking about using free software in business. I particularly like the following take: Open source is fundamentally about people volunteering to work on projects in what could be called the commons; that is, it is about working on things for the public good. This idea will come as no surprise to readers of this blog, but it's still a novel viewpoint for many. The rest of the book shows a similarly refreshing originality in its approach."

Of course, if you prefer to kick it old school, you can still buy the book for $31.47 (plus shipping) from Amazon.com. I'm sure Jeff Bezos would appreciate the business. While you're at it, you can stock up on some groceries as well.

Tags: innovation opensource innovation happens elsewhere

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Innovation buzzword of the week: crowdsourcing

The Putting People First blog points to a recent article in the MIT Sloan Management Review on "crowdsourcing" - "the unofficial (but catchy) name of an IT-enabled business trend in which companies get unpaid or low-paid amateurs to design products, create content, even tackle corporate R&D problems in their spare time.” The concept of crowdsourcing is closely linked to the idea of user-centered innovation, in that users become an integral part of the overall innovation process. Susumu Ogawa (a marketing professor in Japan) and Frank T. Piller (a business school professor in Munich) explain how the concept of crowdsourcing is catching on with cutting-edge companies:

"Companies including Threadless, Yamaha and Ryohin Keikaku have begun to integrate customers into the innovation process by soliciting new product concepts directly from them. These firms also ask for commitments from customers to purchase a new product before the companies commence final development and manufacturing. This process — called “collective customer commitment”— can help companies avoid costly product failures. In essence, collective customer commitment enables firms to serve a market segment efficiently without first having to identify that segment, and it helps convert expenditures in market research directly into sales."

Tags: crowdsourcing innovation creativity

[image: "Crowds"]

Biomimicry and innovation

Over the past three days, the Institute for the Future blog has linked to over 15 stories about biomimicry. (Any guesses as to what the IFTF's next project involves?) On Saturday, for example, the IFTF linked to a number of interesting biomimicry initiatives underway at Oxford, including an Oxford spin off company that is trying to use biomimicry to produce spider silk and an Oxford group that is investigating the biomimetic assembly of natural products derived from marine sponges and terrestrial fungi. On Friday, the IFTF linked to a Cal Tech project using biological inspiration to develop a smart car that can give warnings in dangerous situations and help to avoid collisions, as well as another Cal Tech project attempting to improve the efficiency of certain underwater vehicles by modeling them after certain sea creatures.

Tags: innovation biomimicry

[image: Biomimicry]